One (of many) bad blogging habits I have is the tendency to fiddle with my the design of my blogs on a regular basis.
It's one thing to change ads around or add a link to your single post template to promote a new product - I'm talking about the itch to do a overhaul of your blog's design every 4-6 months.
Currently one of my blog's has gone through two major redesigns in it's 17-month lifespan and I'm looking at plans for a 3rd redesign. Part of me thinks that this comes with having a growing blog, but it could also be an evolving view of what that blog's purpose is.
I've seen sites like ProBlogger and SEOBook go a long time with the same design - is it just a function of being clear about your vision or should you redo your blog's design on a regular basis to keep things fresh?
My blogs usually go through
My blogs usually go through a 3 step process until I stick with a design for several years.
1. Start a blog off for the first month with the default WP theme
2. Find a good free theme for the next 3-6 months
3. Spend until I get a theme that I really like and can stick with for the long-haul
I start a blog with a free
I start a blog with a free theme and slowly morph that into what I need. Over the course of a year I can get a good vision of exactly where I see the blog's direction heading - I will then spend some quality time (and potentially money) and design a theme to fit that direction.
I see design as more of a function than simply making something pretty. There is no need to redesign the theme if the theme you are using is working fine for simply posting articles. Now, if you need to add in some additional sidebar features, maybe a "library" type function, document/file management, etc - that's when it's time to start looking at other design opportunities.
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